Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Airbus A320 ‘9N-AKW’ which encountered bird-strike while landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is still grounded with no progress in the maintenance process.
As per the engineers of the corporation, the equipment and parts need to be brought from abroad along with foreign technicians for its maintenance. The process is expected to take some time and the corporation stated that it has already consulted with the Airbus Company for it.
The exact time for its full maintenance is still unknown and the aircraft remains grounded with no further work. The flight ‘RA416’ en-route from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia safely landed at TIA on September 6 (8:30 pm) though it had its flap damaged after the bird strike while approaching TIA RWY02.
Along with the ‘9N-AKW’, the corporation is still being unable to operate its 2 twin-otter and 2 Chinese aircraft; Harbin Y12e and MA60. NAC currently has 3 Twin-otter among which 2 are functional but have been currently grounded for scheduled maintenance. The maintenance is expected to be completed in a couple of weeks.
Among the 4 Harbin Y12e acquired from China, 3 are in operation whereas the engine of one Y-12e has been sent to Canada for maintenance. The corporation is operating all other Y12e with the limited human resource. The MA60 with registration ‘9N-AKQ’ is also undergoing C check. The process is being carried out by Chinese engineers at the NAC’s hangar and is expected to take around 2 to 3 days for its completion.
there has been some disturbance for NAC’s international flight operations due to one aircraft being grounded, however, the flights are being recovered by other 4 aircraft (2 A330, 1 A320 and 1 Boeing 757) but the domestic flights are being severely disrupted. NAC has been operating the domestic flight with the profit made from its international flight. The corporation has been planning to lease out its Chinese aircrafts as they have been more problematic for the carrier.
